Jackalope Brewing

Inch by Inch, Row by Row

Wed, 08 May 2013 12:00:00 -0500

Holy cow, give thanks to all things good and bright, it seems like spring has finally sprung! I mean I think we were all tired of the prolonged “meh” season that Nashville experienced this year. And if you’re like me, in the spring you get really excited to be a part of the greenness, so you plant yourself a little herb garden, and then watch your homegrown mojito dreams inexplicably die while all of your friends laugh about how their mint plants have become monsters.

But this year. This year will be different (I’m a lifelong Red Sox fan, I’ve gotten really good at convincing myself of that. By the way, best record in the MLB right now. No big deal.). This year I was able to start two really special gardening projects that I am intent on making work!

First, and you may have seen our obsessive Instagram (follow us at @jackalopebrew!) documentation of this, we have begun a little hop garden! Our friends at the Land Trust for Tennessee have a beautiful 65-acre property called Glen Leven literally three miles down 8^th Avenue from the brewery, and they have generously let us use a little piece of land for our experiment. So Sally and I spent a day tilling our plot and a second one building the canopies and planting the rhizomes.

We planted total of 36 cascade rhizomes about three weeks ago and those suckers have been going bananas! It will take three growing seasons before they reach their maximum yield, but hopefully this is the start of a fresh-hopped beer program at the brewery.

Second, if you’re like me and find yourself wondering what to do with the mountains of wooden pallets that are constantly taking over your workspace, I have at least one answer. Make yourself pallet garden! I’ve yet to really understand what a “Pinterest” is, but if you go there you can see lots of really cool examples. I decided to go with an herb garden composed of mint, basil, thyme, rosemary, chives, and cilantro.

I am happy to say that a month in, the garden is thriving! For the first time in my life, I am the grower of a mint-monster plant, not just a wilted pot of soil and stems.

I’m pretty sure the secret ingredient was the Thunder Ann that I was drinking while I planted it.

To beer and green thumbs,

Bailey

For Love of the Game!

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 10:41:00 -0500

Dear Friends and Family,

Do you enjoy the thrilling action of the Nashville Predators, but wish the games were slower, talent was weaker, and alcohol was less plentiful? Then boy do I have the event for you!

Three years ago my team, the Jackalope Dark Knights of Nashville, lost our first game ever 13-0. We had two shots on goal that game, and one win all season (a forfeit). It’s amazing to think how much worse our competition has gotten since then, because tonight we are playing for the league championship! The game promises to be even more electric than the Superbowl! (in the sense that we expect Centennial Sportsplex to not lose power during the game.)

We would love for you to attend and cheer us on to victory (or defeat). Given the importance of the big game, we are expecting to crush our former attendance record of eight adults and a small child, so act now … or right before game-time (it really doesn’t matter. There are no tickets, you just show up).

You will love watching this free, Lower C Adult Hockey Championship game if you:

- own the “Mighty Ducks” trilogy on VHS;

- enjoy sports but lament modern commercialism, preferring instead to watch unpaid players joust “for the love of the game” ;

- have always wanted to scream “Steve… YOU SUCK!” but felt the venue was inappropriate;

- recently purchased that nice winter coat on clearance and now have nowhere to wear it;

- want to see grown men become inappropriately emotional after being successful (or failing) at a minor feat;

- have ever wanted to think to yourself “oh, that’s all there is to it. I could do that. I don’t see what the big deal is.”;

We hope to see you tonight (Monday, 4/22), at 8:40pm, at Centennial Sportsplex (Looking for the rink? Either follow the roar of the crowd, or come in the front door, and turn left. The rink you see is Rink “A”. Walk into that rink and about 30 feet down on the left is the hallway for Rink B, which is where the game is.)

Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose,

Steve

We Love That Dirty Water

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 10:44:00 -0500

There’s not much that we could say that hasn’t already been said about Monday’s tragedy in Boston. As New Englanders who all have lived there at some point in our lives, we are obviously heartbroken and outraged over the cowardly and senseless act of violence that took place. At the same time, we are proud of our dear city and how its people have risen up to help one another heal, proving once again that we won’t be broken. We love Boston. We love the people who live there, we love the Red Sox (big win yesterday, woooot!), Harvard Square, the Beacon Hill Pub (although we’re now too old to step inside), Anna’s Taqueria, the Common, eating Italian food in the North End, the red line, the beautiful water front (and That Dirty Water), Route 1 (Restaurants shaped like boats? Heck yes. High five if you know what I’m talking about.), the Big Dig (OK, maybe like the rest of Boston, we love to hate the Big Dig) and the TV show Cheers – So Cheers wasn’t filmed there, but it was based there so it counts.

We wanted to do something to show our support, and decided that during our Second Birthday Party (coming up on the 27th), we are going to donate a portion of the proceeds from each beer sold to the newly established One Fund, which was set up to help those affected by the bombings. The party happens to fall on Marathon Day in Nashville, and prior to our party, we’ll be along the marathon route cheering our hearts out. We encourage you to do the same, or if you’re so inclined, run (!), and then come and celebrate with us. You’ll recognize us as the ones at the party who lose our minds when the Black Diamond Experience starts playing Sweet Caroline.

To beer and Beantown,

Jackalope

April Fools!

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 21:06:40 -0500

Just kidding.

To beer and jokes,

Jackalope

Big News

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 17:42:07 -0500

So yes, after a couple months of negotiation, we can finally break the silence and tell you the rumors are true. Jackalope has been sold to Anheuser-Busch InBev. It was a really tough decision but in the end was too good of an offer to turn down (you try saying “no” to a lifetime of free admission to Busch Gardens). We will all still be involved in the business, though are looking forward to taking on new pursuits. Steve will be opening Nashville’s first Nomar Garciaparra Museum (scheduled to open spring, 2014). Robyn is going to be directing the new off-off-off broadway stage production of “Mean Girls.” And me? I’m going to further explore my interest in the noble craft of airbrush, spending the next six months in Gatlinburg for an artist in residency program.

We can’t even say how much we’ve appreciated your support over the past two years. We hope you enjoy Thunder Ann Light as much as you loved the original.

To beer and making it rain,

Bailey

Nashville Craft Beer Week

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 10:41:00 -0600

What are you doing the week of March 18^th to the 24^th? Nothing? Cool, because we’ve got a ton of stuff going on for Nashville Craft Beer Week so you can fill up your social calendar.

Monday March 18^th –

Pour House: Like beer? Like bourbon? Us too! We also like the Pour House, the new beer, bourbon and burger place practically right across the street from Jackalope. To kick off Craft Beer Week, we’re heading up there and bringing with us some special beers aged in a bourbon barrel. We’ll be there starting around 7pm, come and celebrate the end of a Monday and the start of a really fun week.

Tuesday March 19^th –

Rolf and Daughters: I wish I was one of those people who knew what foods pair perfectly with which beer, but I’m not. You know who are those people? Bailey, along with Philip Krajeck and his delightful staff from Rolf and Daughters. They’ve been working to come up with beer and food pairings, and not to give too much away, but you’re going to get some really special stuff. Bailey and Steve have been working on some surprises just for this dinner. There are two seatings, one at 5:45pm and one at 8:30pm. Book your tickets right here: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/339372

Wednesday March 20^st –

Village Pub: Ever wonder what exactly goes on in the minds of Bailey and Ste? Well now’s your chance to find out when they hang out at Village Pub for a Meet the Brewer night! Buy Bailey a beer and try to get her to tell all her stories she’s saving for when she writes a book. They’ll be there from 6:30ish to 9pm.

Red Door Midtown: While Bailey and Steve are waxing poetic about yeast and hops supplies, Sally and I will be giving out samples and pint glasses at the newly expanded Red Door Midtown. There will be drink deals on Jackalope starting at 5pm!

Thursday March 21^nd –

Five Points Pizza: Five Points Pizza is hosting a Jackalope Wolpertinger Day (fact: a Wolpertinger is a flying jackalope. Thus flights of Jackalope beer shall be called Wolpertingers) so you can try all of Jackalope’s offering. Did we mention that that will be the first place you can try Lovebird, our Strawberry Raspberry Hefeweizen? They’ll be doing this all day, so you don’t have to wait until Happy Hour, beers at lunch make the day go much better.

Santa’s Pub: Witness a dream come true when Jackalope gets poured as the only draft beer in Santa’s Pub. We’ll be there starting at 8pm, Bailey will be dominating the karaoke machine starting at 8:02. Come drink some Jackalope and sing. Impress us with your karaoke skills and you may just win some special airbrushed swag.

Friday March 22^nd:

Lovebird Launch Party: The official launch of Lovebird in the taproom. We’ll be pouring it starting at 4pm so come on by to taste the beer we’re using to usher in Spring. Come on warm weather! Live music will start at 8pm and we’ll be open until 10pm.

Saturday March 23^rd:

East Nashville Beer Festival!

Didn’t get tickets? The tap room will be open from 2pm-8pm!

Sunday March 24^th:

Drunch at the Taproom: We’ll be open from 12-4pm, Zollikoffee will be open, the DoughWorks Truck will be here. All we ask is you speak quietly to the bartender since they may be feeling a bit delicate after all of the week’s events.

For more information about all of the events going on that week, head right over here: http://rhizomeproductions.com/craft-events/nashville-craft-beer-week-march-18-24-2013/

A Dire (Wolf) Situation

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 12:11:00 -0600

FACT: You all really love the Dire Wolf IPA. How do we know? We blew through five kegs of it this weekend. As a reference, we normally go through about two kegs of each brew in a weekend. It’s not that we’re surprised you like it, it already had a bit of a cult following from when we brewed it on the small batch system. But now it’s looking like rather than having it last for a month as we’d planned, it’s going to be gone after two weeks. Haha, oops! We have a plan, don’t worry! And I swear the plan isn’t just to hope for a Hanukkah-esque beer miracle. We’re going to be brewing up another batch of the Dire Wolf in the next week or so, and in the meantime, we have some barrel-aged Rompo that we’ve been saving for just such an occasion.

We’ve had a lot of you (distributors included) ask why we don’t brew the Dire Wolf all the time, and believe me, we’d love to do that. This is one of those times when you remember that brewing is an agriculturally dependent industry. We actually have to contract for the hops we want years in advance, since there are only so many hop farmers out there, and they are all trying to figure out how much to grow and of what varieties. But since a hop plant takes about three years to reach full production levels, it’s a constant game of guessing and catch up. This is something I knew nothing about when starting a brewery, and still don’t know a ton since Bailey handles it, but the basic idea is we’re contracted for a certain amount of hops per year. When you’re first starting out, a lot of the popular hops (such as those used in the Dire Wolf) are already contracted for the immediate future, so you have to wait a few years until you can get them. As of right now, you can expect the Dire Wolf IPA to be a full time beer in 2015. I KNOW, that’s so far away. We’re working on it, pulling some strings and whatnot to see if we can move that date up. We just wanted to let you all know this, so you don’t think we get some kind of sick pleasure in holding out on you. We have even stopped allowing ourselves to drink it so that it will last longer for y’all. That’s just how much we care about you.

In the meantime, it’s almost spring, so you can look forward to the return some of your other favorites soon! We are brewing Lovebird next week, so it will be done just in time for the East Nashville Beer Festival and Casper (the Gose) will be the next one in line. Oh heck yes, it’s warm weather beer brewing time.

To beer and Humulus lupulus,

Robyn

Zollikoffee

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 10:40:33 -0600

Sunday will mark a new chapter in the life of our taproom. Zollikoffee is opening for business! Our dear friend and coffee-wizard Zollie Wilson has been pouring his heart and soul into his little shop, and let me tell you, it shows (like his facebook page for updates and info!). Zollikoffee’s soft opening will kick off precisely at 8:00 am on Sunday, with the official grand opening a few weeks later. We are crazy excited to have him here with us.

We get a lot of questions about the concept behind this collaboration, so I figured now would be a good time to explain how it came together in our little brains. On the most basic, amoeba-style, level, we really like the idea of having expertly brewed coffee available to us when we come to work every morning. Duh. On a slightly more evolved, like maybe algal, level, we love our taproom, and we know that our hours are quite limited, and like the idea of our beautiful taproom being used more.

What excites us more than anything though is the continued revitalization of our space. I feel like it’s kind of like watching a forest grow. When we first moved in, this building had been empty for some time, and Eighth Avenue was…gritty. Don’t get me wrong, part of the reason we loved it was it’s grit (the other part was our proximity to Arnold’s). One of our main topics of conversation here is The Social Club. In the past few years we’ve transformed our own little piece of concrete and watched the rest of the corridor come to life as well. I’m a firm believer in urban revitalization and optimal utilization of space. As Nashville becomes more and more popular, that is going to be a key aspect of the city’s growth. And we’re psyched to be doing our little part. When it comes down to it, we want to do as much as we possibly can within our 6,700 square feet playground.

Even further, I hope Zollie doesn’t mind me saying that one of the coolest things about bringing our businesses together is his plan to begin roasting his own coffee in the building in the future. Not to get you in too much of a tizzy, but he also might have said something about chocolate. Or maybe I made that up, I don’t know. But yes, I foresee us one day as a one stop-shop for house-made beer, coffee, and chocolate. Basically, the best things in life. If anybody who makes cheese or shoes wants to get in touch, you know where to find us.

To the best things in life,

Bailey

Robbie Burns Details!

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:48:00 -0600

Happy January everyone! You know what happens in January? Robbie Burns Day! That’s right, we’re getting ready for our second annual Robbie Burns EXTRAVAGANA! We’ll be holding the event on Saturday Jannuary 19^th from 2pm-8pm. As those of you who participated may remember, we basically do a bastardized version of highland games, we think Robbie Burns would approve.

We’re adding a game this year, bringing it up to five events:

Drawing Contest – We’ll provide the picture and the crayons, you make an awesome picture, easy peasy.

Keg Wall Sit – A feat of strength! Performing a proper wall sit while holding an empty slim quarter straight out in front of you.

Putting Contest – Golf was born in Scotland, we play homage to that with a putting contest.

Poetry Reading — We will provide Robbie Burns poems, but you can feel free to memorize your own, but it HAS to be a Robbie Burns poem.

Dance Contest — We love us a dance contest, but this is a little different, you have to dance the Highland Fling, don’t know what that is, here’s a video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7vSWqgd6kw

Teams must have between three and five members, we’re also limiting the number of the teams to NINE, so if you’re interested email hello@jackalopebrew.com. It’s first come first serve, so let us know ASAP. Also, you’ll be assigned a Scottish Clan, so let us know if the email if you have a preference.

First Distriversary

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 09:33:15 -0600

Let’s take a trip down memory lane for a minute, shall we? It was this time last year that we were nervously getting ready to ship out our very first kegs ever into the world beyond our 8th Avenue doors. We had to drive to St. Louis to pick up taphandles THE DAY BEFORE WE LAUNCHED when our handle maker (who shall remain nameless but remains to this day #1 on my shit list…ok fine, his name rhymes with Schmavid Schmepper and he still owes us $800, several grey hairs, and about five months at the end of our lives) went AWOL, and a friend-of-a-friend designed the new ones for us in a pinch (his name is Bill Newberry and he remains #1 on my awesome list). When Bounty Bev picked up those kegs I felt like a parent sending their kid to the first day of kindergarten. In the past year we have gone from having taps in 8 bars to now being on draft in about 65 locations.

We pumped out 1,131 barrels of beer in 2012 (131 more than we’d planned, woo!) and next week will be receiving some big ole 60 bbl shiny tanks, since our 15 bbl ones, once referred to as “the big system,” have quickly become overwhelmed.

So here we are, a year later, and January 9th is our official First Distriversary (distribution anniversary, duh.). Last year we launched with a pub crawl. And that was cool. But what’s cooler than one pub crawl? Four pub crawls! We’re going to be celebrating the milestone with a pub crawl in a different part of town every Monday in January! So here’s the plan:

Monday, January 7th. East Nasty: The Village Pub, Five Points Pizza, Beyond the Edge, Drifters, Red Door East, The Five Spot.
Monday, January 14th. Midtown: Kay Bob’s Grill & Ale, Hattie B’s Hot Chicken, Broadway Brewhouse, Red Door, Flying Saucer.
Monday, January 21st. 12 South: Craft Brewed, M.L. Rose (Franklin Pike), Edley’s Bar-B-Que, 12 South Taproom.
Monday, January 28th. West Side: Jed’s Sports Bar & Grille, M.L. Rose (Charlotte Ave.), The Stone Fox.

Trust me, we wanted to hit even more places, but then we remembered we actually need to be somewhat functional to brew the beer. And we want YOU to come celebrate with us! We’ll keep you updated what times we’ll be where, and would love to hang out with your smiling faces! Special prize to those oh so strong-willed and strong-livered of you who make each crawl (or at least part of it). And I don’t just mean hugs, though you probably will get those too.

To one whole year of beer in bars!!

Bailey

Bottling Day, in Photos

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 10:08:00 -0600

So by now, we’ve written and obsessed about Tannakin quite a bit, I know. I can’t even tell you how freaking excited and relieved that I am that the stars aligned for this brew. But now I think I’ll let the pictures from bottling day do most of the talking. Thanks to Matt Bolus for coming over to be the fourth cog in the machine, and to Kevin Potere for making us the awesome Jackalope wax seal that allows us to pretend we’re living in medieval times.

So without further ado, I present to you, the Jackalope Bottling Line:

These bottles ain’t gonna label themselves.

Yeah, this baby pumps out one bottle every 90 seconds.

Even the most efficient machine needs fuel every now and then.

Just cappin’, cap’n.

Almost done….

SO PRETTY!

How’d the beer come out, you ask? Well, it smelled so good that I put aside my vegetarian ways for the first time since I was 8 years old to try it. And that sucker was WORTH IT. I seriously couldn’t be more excited if I were Jesse Spano on caffeine pills.

To beer and crackpot ideas,

Bailey

Spreading a Little Holiday Cheer

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 09:45:32 -0600

When Bailey and I first started Jackalope and were writing the business plan, we came up with the idea of having the rotating tap and pairing that beer with a local nonprofit, with the idea that 20% of the taproom proceeds from that beer would go to benefit the nonprofit. We wanted to do this, and I quote ourselves from three years ago, to give back to a community that has given so much to us. Which is true. If you read our blog at all, you know how much we love and appreciate you all. We really enjoy the partnerships, and learning about people’s efforts to make this world a better place – everyone from Agape Animal Rescue to the Land Trust for Tennessee to The Nashville Chapter of the American Cancer Society. It’s always satisfying to feel like we are a part of something bigger when we are working with these groups.

This month was a little different, though. This month, with the Snowman Stout, we partnered with the Mental Health Cooperative and rather than writing them a check at the end of the month, we decided we’d use the money to buy gifts for the kids and adults that they help. The deadline for getting the gifts to them was Monday, which means I had to do some fancy math involving fractions and some guessing to figure out how much we made (and are going to make in the next two weekends) from the brew. I’m happy to say that the stout is very popular, so I got to go shopping for over $600 of toys. Unfortunately, Bailey and Steve were busy with beer brewing so they couldn’t come with me, which is a shame because you experience a special kind of joy filling up a shopping cart with loads of board games, actions figures, arts and craft supplies, coats, hats, sporting goods and pillow pets (which I think are like, THE gift, they were very hard to find). The whole thing was pretty much living out a childhood dream of having a shopping spree in a toy store. Once my car/sleigh was loaded up, I brought everything over to the MHC, along with the gifts that you all have been so generously donating throughout the month. The staff at the MHC were really appreciative, and told me that the gifts would make a huge difference. So thank you all for the toys you brought and the beer that you drank, it’s because of you that we were able to make such a donation. Your livers may be a little bit worse for the wear, but a bunch of kids’ Christmases will be a lot better, so I think it was worth it.

Stout Beers & Secret Experiments, Part II

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 14:46:00 -0600

It’s a GO people! The feds have given us the stamp of approval and the pieces have fallen together so I can finally let you in on our big secret. We will soon be releasing TANNAKIN, Jackalope’s very first hand-bottled brew. AHHHH!!

What is Tannakin, you ask? It’s a whiskey barrel-aged bacon mocha stout. Yeah, you heard me. Concocted using Bongo Java coffee beans, Corsair Quinoa Whiskey barrels, and house-made bacon from the Porter Road Butcher, this baby combines ingredients from Nashville’s tasty side.

And how can you get some Tannakin, you ask? We will only be releasing fifty 22 oz. bottles of this rare beer, so it is going to go fast. While we wish we could host a feats-of-strength battle royale to determine who could have some, we’ve decided to use our powers for good.

1. Forty of the bottles will be sold in the old-fashioned first-come, first-serve style. One bottle per person. No exceptions for friends, relatives, roommates, suitors, baked-goods-bribers or otherwise. Not even for Ms. Tannakin Skinker herself.

2. Eight of the bottles will be sold in the following manner: Saturday is our Holiday Party at the brewery and we will be collecting toys for the Mental Health Cooperative. Bring in a toy and you will be entered in a raffle. The eight names picked will be guaranteed a spot to purchase a bottle of Tannakin.

3. One of the bottles will be GIVEN to the winner of the Best Dressed Contest at the Holiday Party. This will be the only bottle given away (please see the “no exceptions” section above).

4. The last bottle we reserve to sell as we see fit, and at our own discretion on the release date. If you know us at all, then you can probably guess that this will involve some kind of game.

When is Tannakin being released, you ask? That’s a good question. We’re waiting on our final label approval. It might be this weekend, it might be later than that. We promise to give you at least a 24-hour heads-up. Speaking of the label, check it out:

Thanks to Cat Basile for the label design and to Maggie Shipstead for the original poem. Which, just in case you can’t read it on the screen goes something like this:

“There was a Miss Tannakin Skinker
Whose lot was, oh dear, such a stinker.
She was cursed from her birth

With a hog’s ample girth

And a snout like a sow’s except pinker.

All hope for a love she’d forsaken

Til he said, “Hey, baby, what’s shakin’?

“You might be a ham,

I give not one damn,

Your kiss tastes far sweeter than bacon.”

As soon as he’d spoken,

The spell it was broken.

The beauty within

Spread over her skin,

As the truest true love came to Tannakin.”

To beer and rhyming,

Bailey

Happy Repeal Day!

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 15:58:00 -0600

Do you know what day today is? Other than one week before my birthday (12/12/12…I mean it’s kind of a big deal)?? It is Repeal Day! Meaning that on this day in 1933 that the 21^st Amendment was ratified, prohibition was repealed, and Americans could start drinking alcohol on the up-and-up again.

So, in the spirit of the day, want to learn about Prohibition? Yay! Here are five fun facts for your cerebral enlightenment:

1. A statewide ban of manufacture, sale, and consumption of alcohol went into effect in Tennessee in 1909, eleven years before prohibition went into effect nationwide. And what was the last straw that caused the state to take such measures, pray-tell? A gunfight between pro and anti-prohibitionists on the streets of Nashville, of course.

2. The Nationwide Prohibition era began with the ratification of the 18^th Amendment, which banned the production, sale, or transportation of “intoxicating liquors” in the United States, on January 16, 1919. The Amendment didn’t go into effect until January 17^th of the next year, so one could only imagine that citizens spent the next 365 days building stockpiles of booze.

3. Though lawmakers had hoped that prohibition would cause a decrease in alcohol sale and consumption, it actually had the opposite effect. And since it was criminalized, well, it just meant we had more criminals. The court and prison systems were overwhelmed, and organized crime leaders (such as Al Capone and that dude from Boardwalk Empire) took over the manufacture and distribution of alcohol. The Prohibition Board estimated that 22 million barrels of illicitly homebrewed beer was made in 1929.

4. Prohibition was the era of “moonshiners” and “bootleggers.” Where did these terms come from? “Moonshiners,” or manufacturers of illegally distilled spirits, tend to do so at night, under the light of the moon (though for a more detailed history of the name, look up the legend of the Moonrakers, as this is thought to be the origin of the term). “Bootlegging,” or the smuggling of liquor, refers to selling liquor from flasks kept hidden underneath one’s trouser legs or boots.

5. On December 5, 1933, the 21^st Amendment was ratified and marked the first (and only, so far) time a constitutional amendment was repealed. It is also the only amendment to have been ratified by state ratifying convention.

So there you have it. I certainly feel a little smarter now, don’t you? Let’s all celebrate our newly found knowledge with a (legally produced) drink!

To beer and Article V of the U.S. Constitution,

Bailey

Bubbles (a thank you note)

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 15:59:52 -0600

I hope you are all feeling full of food and joy after this beautiful holiday weekend! I find that Thanksgiving tends to be a time to reflect on the year, what’s different, what’s the same, what actually happened versus what you thought would happen. I can say from the bottom of my heart that I am very thankful for 2012, and the miles that we’ve come since last Thanksgiving. I dare to say the week of Thanksgiving 2011 was about the most tense start-up business moment that we’ve had here. The 15-barrel system was on the verge of being put to use, but our pumps were burning out with no certain explanation (and no specifications), after months of delays, rewiring equipment, piecing together a glycol system, sleepless nights, and stress-induced heartburn. My family came to visit for that weekend, and I’m pretty sure they left concerned for my health and sanity (I wish I were kidding). Basically, we really needed something good to happen.

And it did! On December 1^st of last year we brewed our very first 15-barrel batch and have been moving straight on till morning ever since. This Thanksgiving our brewery is a very different place. I came in on Thanksgiving morning to check in on everything and was greeted by the glorious sight of bubbles coming out of the fermenter blow-off bucket. I immediately had one of those moments when everything in the universe comes together, and I realized that those bubbles basically summed up everything that I was thankful for. I was thankful to live in a town full of people who get behind local businesses and drink our beer, so that I get to keep making it. I was thankful to my family, for not committing me last year, but instead supporting this crazy dream of ours. I was thankful that Wednesday’s brew had taken off at a healthy clip, so I would be able to spend the rest of my holiday relaxing with friends. I was even thankful that brewing involves bubbles, because how awesome is it when bubbles are a part of your job?

So thanks for the bubbles, y’all.

Meanwhile, I know last week I said I’d have more hints about our mysterious Tannakin project. Hmmm, what to say…what…to…say. Well, we’re working with a few of our fellow local “makers” to bring it into existence. And for those of you who know me, I can tell you that deciding whether I’m going to be enjoying the final product of this project is a major dilemma. Oh and did you hear we’re having a holiday party on December 15th? Well there might be something even more special than Steve dressed up as Creepy Santa (with the astro van as his sleigh) being released into the world that day. Even. More. Special.

To beer and bubbles,

Bailey

Stout Beers & Secret Experiments, Part I

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 09:49:00 -0600

It’s here! One of the top five days of the year in the brewhouse is hands down the day that we brew our mocha stout, simply named the Snowman Stout (it’s abominably good). Mashing in the biscuit, chocolate, and black malts makes you feel like your paddle is actually a whisk on the biggest batch of chocolate chip cookie dough of all time. Seriously, we just finished mashing in and all I want is cookies for breakfast. And then in the boil we get to add Bongo Java coffee beans.

That’s when your inner Augustus Gloop comes out and you have to resist the urge to follow in his chocolate-river-diving footsteps. In fact, though many people like to tell us that they imagine our brewery as a building full of Oompa Loompas, this brew is probably our most Willy Wonka-esque in the line up. We might even need to find white overalls.

So that’s what we’re doing today. We’ll get back to you with Part II of the journey next week. That’s the part that involves cacao nibs. On a related note, it’s possible that we have the best job ever.

And because we always like to push ourselves to make a little more magic than we have before, this year we are working on a very special experiment, related to this brew. I can’t tell you what it is yet, because I don’t want to jinx us, or to make you cry if it doesn’t come to light (trust me, if you knew about it, and then it didn’t happen, you would cry). Instead I will tell you a story. It’s the story of Mistris Tannakin Skinker, a lovely woman who was cursed have the head of a pig. Her parents were told the curse could only be broken if she married a good, prominent man. Despite the sizable dowry they offered, and despite Tannakin’s beaming personality, it seemed no man could go through with it.

Finally, a worthy man came along and married Mistris Tannakin, only to find that the curse had another twist. Tannakin told him that she would either remain pig-headed by the light of day, but beautiful whilst in the boudoir, or beautiful whilst out-and-about and swinely in the bedroom, and that the decision was up to him. After consideration, her new husband told her the choice was hers, and he would honor whatever her decision was. By him giving her the choice, the curse was TRULY broken, and Tannakin became as beautiful outside as she already was inside. And they lived happily ever after!

OK, so what does that have to do with anything? Not much, I suppose. We haven’t been cursed by a witch. To my knowledge, nobody at the brewery has developed a hogsnout. And goodness knows none of us are getting married anytime soon (sorry, Mom and Dad!). But we have been taken by the story of dear Tannakin, and have decided to dedicate this project to her.

And what does this all mean for you? Well, I’d keep my ear to the grindstone for a very special release around mid-December, if I were you. More clues? Fine. It will only be available to the first fifty people (while presents are welcomed/encouraged, they won’t get you moved up in line). More hints next week.

To Willy, Augustus, and Tannakin,

Bailey

On to November!

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 11:20:22 -0500

That sound you heard coming from Jackalope on Monday was a contented sigh of relief as we realized that we had successfully made it through October. October is one of the most beautiful months of the year in Nashville so there are tons of beer festivals and other outdoor events that we participate in. It was also the month that we decided to hold a billion events in the tap room, so we’re ending this month just a wee bit tired. We’re also ending this month very happy. We had such a great time at all the beer festivals and the cheese festival. Our Docktober series, with the help of Native and ASCAP, turned out better than we ever imagined, even when we had to move it inside for half the time. You all helped raise almost $6000 for Christopher’s Haven at the event two weeks ago and made our second annual Halloween party a roaring success. With Jenga-lope we saw just how thrilling (and stressful) watching a 38 level tower being constructed could be. We also restarted Crafty Bitches after a month off, just in time for the holiday season! A very very big thank you to all of you who made our October so fantastic! We look forward to throwing many more events that hopefully you all will enjoy just as much. Our November is going to be a little bit quiet in terms of big parties, but there’s plenty of smaller stuff going on! On November 1^st (this Thursday) we’re doing a Trivia Night as well as doing our regular trivia night on November 15^th. We have the Sycamore pop up dinner on November 11^th. Crafty Bitches will be on the 28^th and we’ll be making something fun and holiday-ish that we can’t announce right now. We’re also planning on having Betsy’s Revenge, our pumpkin beer here all month!

Now to start planning the big December events…..

Your New Favorite Coffee Shop

Thu, 18 Oct 2012 15:22:00 -0500

People who’ve come into the tap room in the last month or so may have noticed something different. Pictures on the wall are in different places than they were the week before, doors are suddenly gone, and there are sometimes dusty foot prints across the floor.

Clearly, we’ve been doing some construction and today they busted through the wall to make a new window and door so we figured we might as well just tell everyone what’s going on! We’re so very excited to have a coffee shop opening up in our brewery! ZolliKoffee, owned and operated by Zollie Wilson, should be open for business around the beginning of December and you guys should start getting excited now, because this coffee is killer. Zollie is going to be doing his kind of brewing in the back side of the taproom (behind where our much loved Do Epic Shit painting has been hanging) and will be using the taproom space as well. What this means for our taproom hours is still up in the air, we’ll probably be adding on more hours, but that’s something we’ll decide once ZolliKoffee is open. For those of you who commute down 8^th every morning –— actually, even if you don’t you should take a detour to stop at ZolliKoffee — get excited about where you’ll be grabbing your new morning coffee. Every morning I come in to the tap room and stare at Zollie until he pities me and makes me a cup. I am not lying when I say it’s one of the best cups of coffee you’ve ever had. Now that there’s a hole in the wall, you guys will be able to check out the progress, so come on by and see for yourself what all the fuss is about.

To all things brewed,

Robyn

Docktoberfest

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 11:01:42 -0500

Fall has officially arrived and we at Jackalope are very excited about it! We’re not ones to wish summer away, but are pretty happy to say goodbye to the sweat lodge component of our brewery for the next several months. Also, it’s fair to say that October is my favorite month out of the year. It’s cool but not cold, pumpkin somehow ends up incorporated in everything from lattes to lasagna, and the whole thing is capped off with the biggest, bestest costume party of the year. Not to be left out, Jackalope is working with all of these things.

First and foremost, we are thrilled to announce that we are partnering with Native magazine to bring you…Docktoberfest. Every Friday in October we will feature local bands playing from our loading dock, with the music starting at 6:00 pm and wrapping up around 8:30. It will be a free series, just a chance for us all to celebrate what Nashville has to offer, from handcrafted music to handcrafted beer.

Generally we’ll announce the line up on the Monday of that week. Just a little present from us to help you get your week started. But I’ll tell you right now, because I’m Jesse Spano-style so excited (minus the caffeine pills and the breakdown), that we are going to kick it off on Friday, October 5^th with the Kopecky Family Band and Evan P. Donahue! It is going to be something of a Pre-Release Party for the Kopecky Family Band’s upcoming album, Kids Raising Kids, which if you haven’t heard anything off of that album yet, you need to go ahead and fix that. Like, now. And then again on Friday, live.

So that’s what we’re doing to celebrate outdoor weather season. But what about pumpkins and Halloween, you ask? Well, we have about half of our pumpkins roasted by now and will be brewing up Betsy’s Revenge (named after the highly tormented Ms. Betsy Bell) this week! In the meantime, the pumpkins have been great décor for the brewhouse. And we’re working up our various pumpkin seed recipes.

Halloween. We’ll be hosting a Halloween Carnival at the brewery on Saturday, October 27^th. If you remember last year, you know that we LOVE Halloween. We’ll tell you more later, but a short list of thing to expect includes our favorite DJs, Get Better, spinning from the loading dock, games, costume contests, and a bike parade.

You’re so good to me, October.

To beer and autumn,

Bailey

Only in Nashville

Thu, 13 Sep 2012 13:01:00 -0500

So I know everybody’s hopping on board the Nashville train right now. The New York Times, GQ, Esquire, etc. have all recently written about our hipness. It seems a little outrageous. But here’s the thing. I think it’s possible that Nashville really is that awesome.

Exhibit A: Tuesday morning we got a phone call from a songwriter, Walker Hayes, saying that he’d written a song for us, and could he bring it by the brewery? Um, YES. A little bit later Walker rolled up to the loading dock with three CDs (one for each of us), telling us he loved our beer and our story, and had a dream and then wrote a song inspired by it. It was incredible. We’d never met before and he wasn’t trying to get anything from us, he had just honestly written us a song and wanted to share it. Things like this don’t happen in Boston (no offense, Boston, we love that dirty water, but let’s face it, your inhabitants are not known for their friendliness). Next thing we knew, we were listening to the song (which is awesome, by the way) and drinking a beer with him at our bar, talking about our idea to have a bi-monthly songwriter’s night at the brewery. I think it’s safe to say Walker will be singing his song in the taproom in the not-to-distant future.

It seems like stuff like this just happens around here. Our now dear friends Kate & Ashley from Old Made Good just called us out of the blue a year and a half go, and now our walls are covered in their art and we work together to host a raucous group of Crafty Bitches once a month at the taproom. We first met the artist Kuntal Patel at the Grassy Knoll Movie Nights and he has now made a series of fairytale-esque illustrations for us, starring the Jackalope and the namesakes of each of our brews. Not because we asked him to, or because some marketing person somewhere thought it was a good idea, but just because he wanted to.

I think what really makes Nashville special isn’t the individual people or places, but the way we all come together. We share our talents (and our wares) and support each other with fierce devotion. So it becomes about much more than just the beer or the music or the art or the food. It’s about believing in ourselves, and even more importantly, believing in each other.

Oh, and I know you’re wondering how the song went, right? Well lucky for us, Walker recorded a video of it:

“Even a Jackalope Know”

To beer & believing,

Bailey